


Find You

by trulisthetic



Category: Grey's Anatomy, Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Binge Challenge, Cute, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Family, Fluff, Grey's Anatomy - Freeform, Humor, Hurt/Comfort, Japril, Once Upon A Time, Romance, the collective - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-26
Updated: 2019-11-26
Packaged: 2021-02-26 00:41:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 13,110
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21574684
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/trulisthetic/pseuds/trulisthetic
Summary: [AU, OS] Orphan Harriet blows her 19th birthday candles wishing she would no longer be alone. And that same moment a young boy knocks on her door claiming that he's her little brother, that their parents are under a curse that took their memories, and that she is the only one who can make them remember. Based on "Once Upon A Time". *WINNER of the 'Binge' Challenge*
Relationships: Jackson Avery/April Kepner, Japril - Relationship
Comments: 3
Kudos: 20





	Find You

_His hands were trembling when he shut the door behind him, but he didn't want to show it. He didn't want to show her how scared he truly was. See, she was a believer; she had her faith to turn to. But he… he was just scared as hell._

_It was just the two of them in the room. Well, the three of them. Their baby girl was slightly fussing in the crib when his wife reached to pick her up._

" _If I never see you again…" he trailed off. He couldn't even bear the thought, but he had to say some sort of goodbye. Just in case._

" _No." she cut him off. "Stop that right now. Stop doubting her. She's half Kepner, we are soldiers. She can do this."_

" _You can't just rely on a stupid prophecy, we don't know if-"_

" _Please." She pleaded with all her might, holding the baby tighter against her chest. "Please, have faith. Please."_

_He took a deep breath. Then he nodded in defeat, even though it clearly wasn't that easy. He couldn't just believe, but he could pretend to. For her. "Alright." He mumbled and reached to caress the baby's head. He planted a little kiss on her forehead. "Okay."_

" _She will find us." She vowed. "Just like you always say. If you love them and they love you-"_

_His lips cut her off, urgent. Demanding. He wasn't going to spend their last moment together recalling an old saying._

" _I love you." He whispered against her when they broke apart._

" _I love you too." She then smirked. "Even the things I don't like."_

* * *

I sat on the chair in front of me with exhaustion, staring at the little cupcake on the table with dismay.

I didn't know why I was still doing this, celebrating my birthday at all. But it was my own, personal tradition for this day. Alone, in my empty apartment, blowing one single candle on top of that exact same banana-flavored cupcake from the bakery down the street. It was all a meaningless show, of course. I didn't feel any more special after doing it. But tradition was tradition, meaningful or not. And plus, eating that cake at the end was worth the effort.

I pulled my hair up on a messy bun, and then let out a long sigh. "Happy birthday, self." I mumbled quietly, closing my eyes to make a wish. I hadn't planned on anything to wish for, but the second the time came it was as if the words popped up inside my head in the form of a plead. And I just let them be.

_Please, don't let me be alone anymore._

With a sad smile I opened my eyes again, and sucked in a breath to blow the candle.

The doorbell rang.

The sound was so foreign that I jumped up ten feet in the air, startled. My hand flew to my chest instantly, a frown at my face. I eyed the cupcake nervously, and then glanced at the door, cautiously walking towards it.

I looked through the spyhole, but there was no one there. Thinking it might be a prank, I gradually opened the door to check outside. Still, nobody was there.

"Hello."

My gaze shot down towards the source of the voice. No, I was wrong. There was someone there. In front of me stood a small child, maybe six or seven years old. He was rather thin and looked tired, yet excitement was overflowing his every characteristic. Freckles dotted the olive skin of his face, reaching right below his bright blue eyes. Two little dimples formed on his cheeks as he smiled up at me, revealing a perfect row of white, square little teeth.

I blinked at him. "Uh… hi." I replied, although it came out sounding like a question.

"Are you Harriet Kepner-Avery?" he asked.

"Yeah... Who are you?"

His grin got impossibly wide. "My name is Samuel. I'm your brother!" he exclaimed happily, opening his hands wide to make the revelation more dramatic.

I froze for a brief second. Then I snorted. "I don't have a brother, kid."

Instantly his hands dropped, his face exaggeratingly frowning. "Yes, you do. Me!"

I glanced down the hall behind him. "Is this a prank? Where are your parents?"

"They're back home." He simply stated, still frowning.

I raised an eyebrow at him. "Aren't you a bit young to wonder around on your own?"

He crossed his arms against his chest. "That's not the point. Don't change the subject. I'm here for a reason."

I raised my eyebrows at him, amused by his attempt to make his tone sound strict. "A reason? And what might that be?"

With his arms still crossed he narrowed his eyes at me, eyeing me carefully. He then pursed his lips. "No, I don't think you're ready for that yet."

"Okay…" I slowly said, dragging the 'o'. "How about you go home then? Do your parent's even know you're here?"

He seemed surprised by the question. "Oh. Well, not really." He answered truthfully.

I almost groaned. Kids these days… "Alright, you know what, I bet they are really worried. I know I would be."

He seemed a bit uncomfortable. "Yeah… I guess." Then his eyes lit up. "Will you take me home?" he asked eagerly.

Oh. _Perfect._ "Where is home?"

"Storybrooke, Washington."

My jaw dropped to the floor. "Washington?! That's… how did you even get here?"

"By flying."

I pinched my nose, unable to believe what was happening. "You got on a plane from Washington to Montana and your parents don't even _know_?"

He flashed me an innocent grin.

I wanted to bang my head on the wall.

"Okay, kid, get in." I ordered him, opening the door wider. "We are calling your parents."

" _Our_ parents." He corrected as he happily made his way to the living room. "And they don't really have a phone."

"They don't have a…" I had to cut my sentence in half not to start screaming. I took a couple of deep calming breaths. "Okay. We'll figure something out. I'll call the cops."

"No!" he suddenly cried in alarm, jumping around to stare at me in horror. "No, please don't!"

I walked to the phone. "I was going to call them anyway. What excuse of a parent lets their kid fly to another state?"

"They didn't let me!" he argued. "I run away."

I gave him a glance. "Why would you do that?"

"Because I needed to find you and bring you back to our family." He innocently explained.

"For the love of God, kid, I am not your... _sister_." I couldn't even say the word without grimacing.

"How do you know?" he asked.

And for a brief second, I found myself hesitating. Because the kid wasn't _wrong_. How could I be sure? I was abandoned on the side of the road as a newborn with only company a single blanket with my name knitted on it. For all I knew, I could have a dozen of siblings running around. Not that it mattered anyway.

And come to think of it, it only made sense that someone who was capable of abandoning a baby like a bag of trash would let their other child travel the world unsupervised. Still, I was not going to take my chances and get in trouble for their irresponsibility. "I'm calling the cops." I informed him, dialing 911.

"Then I'll tell them you kidnapped me."

My finger froze over the call button. He'd do _what_ now? I stared at him in disbelief. "You're not gonna do that."

He smiled, putting his little hands on his hips. "Try me."

This was not happening.

He let his hands drop with a sigh. "Please, don't call the cops. Please? Take me home." He begged.

I sighed, putting down the phone. "Kid…"

"Please? Pretty please?" he pleaded, pouting, flashing his wide, liquid eyes at me.

Oh, come on! "Fine!" I cried, giving up. "I'll take you home."

He let out a cry of victory, throwing his little fist in the air.

I rolled my eyes. "I'll go book us tickets to… what was that called, again?"

"Storybrooke!" He yelled, his voice filled with enthusiasm.

I sighed. "Alright. Storybrooke it is."

* * *

"What's that?" I asked him as we were boarding the plane, pointing at the book he held tightly against his chest.

"A book."

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, I can see that. I mean, what is it about?"

"Stories." He mumbled, looking straight forward.

I shook my head at him. "You're impossible." I told him as I handed away our tickets.

The man gave me a weird look.

"Oh, not you!" I assured him, chuckling nervously. "You're fine. Sorry."

He handed me the tickets back, not commenting. _Great, humiliating myself everywhere I go. Way to go, Harriet._

We walked to our seats and he sat next to the window, looking down in excitement. "I love flying!" he cried, a brilliant smile on his lips.

I smiled back. "Yeah, me too."

A while passed in silence, and by the time the plane left the airport it was already after midnight. I glanced at the kid, noticing he had left the book on his lap, nonchalantly gazing out the window. He looked a bit tired.

"Grey's Anatomy?" I read the title out loud, raising an eyebrow. Wasn't that a medical book or something? "That doesn't sound like fairytales."

"They're not fairytales." He mumbled, his attention out the window. "Every story in this book actually happened."

I huffed. "Of course it did."

"I'm not lying to you. I never lie." He informed me, giving me an offended look.

I stared back at him. "Just because you believe in something doesn't make it true."

"That's exactly what makes it true." He insisted. "You should know better than anyone."

"Why is that?" I asked, an eyebrow raised.

"Because you're in this book." He simply answered, as if it was the most natural thing in the world.

Oh, this was getting better and better. "Kid, you've got some problems."

"Yep. And you're gonna fix them. And I have a name, you know. It's Samuel. Or Sammy. Not Sam, though, I don't like that one." He wrinkled his little nose.

I couldn't help but chuckle. Then, I decided there was no harm in playing along with his little game. "Alright, _Samuel_. Tell me, are you in this book too?" I asked, lying back in the seat.

"Yes. And our parents. And everyone. Here," he said and opened the book, flipping through the pages. When he found what he wanted he turned the book towards me.

I looked at the page in front of me. There was a big picture in the middle, a drawing in all shades of blue. It pictured a couple, a man and a woman seeming to be on their early thirties. They seemed to be on a bed, the man holding the woman from behind and leaning against her shoulder to peek at the newborn in her arms.

"That's me." Samuel announced proudly. "And those are mom and dad. She works at the school and he's at the hospital."

A teacher and a doctor? I frowned and examined the drawing carefully. The man had short, shaved hair and his skin tone was a few shades darker than Samuel's. And my own, I realized. His eyes seemed to be blue, although I couldn't really tell since he was looking down at the baby with an amount of adoration that took your breath away. The same expression was on the woman's face, whose smile was incredibly wide, two perfect dimples forming on her cheeks. Her hair, colored somewhere between red and orange, fell down her shoulders in soft waves.

"They look like they really love you." I realized, stunned. No, more like worshipped him. The happiness flaring in their expressions was undeniable – there was also something else underlying their joy, however, but I couldn't pinpoint exactly what it was. Yet, I didn't know what I had been expecting but I would never have guessed those were the parents of a kid who would run away from home.

"They do. They don't really remember me anymore, though."

I stared at him, shocked. "What? Why is that?"

He looked at me cautiously. "Are you really ready to know?"

His tone was so serious that I actually hesitated for a brief moment. "Sure, why not?" I answered eventually.

"It's the curse. Everybody was ripped from their happy endings and everything they loved. They don't remember who they are or who they love or how they got in Storybrooke, they just live normal, ordinary and plain lives. And time is frozen, it has been for 19 years. There's only one person that can find a way to break the curse, and that is the savior. She was prophesized to return to Storybrooke on her 19th birthday, break the curse, restart the time and give everyone their happy endings." He finished, grinning happily.

I don't know if I was more crept out by the fact that he apparently believed I was some kind of savior or that he somehow knew it was my 19th birthday today. Or maybe it was the entire story that had my skin breaking in goosebumps. I shook my head abruptly, lying back on my seat again. "I think you picked the wrong savior."

He laid back on his own chair, his eyes on me. "Why do you say that?" he asked.

I huffed, bitterly. There was no point in explaining how my only purpose in this world was to work as a waitress to pay a rent. How I was dropped from foster home to foster home only to be kicked out for good as soon as I was an adult. How I was all alone. Nobody knew me, nobody loved me, nobody needed me. I was just a number. Just another meaningless face in the crowd. "I'm nobody's savior, Samuel." I mumbled softly, my eyes closing. This was not a time to start with all the useless self-pity.

After a moment, I felt something warm on my shoulder. Little fingers wrapped around my skin, putting light pressure in a gesture of sympathy.

I opened my eyelids to look at him, and his ocean eyes were sad. He slightly squeezed my shoulder. "I think you are. You're _my_ savior." He warmly said, the innocence of childhood in his little voice causing my heart to swell. "And I believe in you."

It was a weird thing, how those little words suddenly had me growing emotional. I sucked in a breath as I gave him a smile of disbelief. "Has anybody told you that you're a very special little boy?"

His smile in response was tender. Then he yawned, his dimples stretching. "I think I'm going to sleep for a while." He murmured.

"Oh. Do you want me to ask for a pillow?"

"No, I'm good." He said, and before I could react he scooped closer to me, wrapped his hands around my arm to embrace it and laid his head on my shoulder. He closed his eyes, a small smile still on his lips. "Goodnight, Harriet." he said, letting out a sigh as he squeezed his full cheek against me.

I stood there, shocked and entirely still, staring ahead with eyes filled with wonder. It took me a minute for my body to relax, completely unused to the contact. Then slowly, hesitantly, I let my head lean to rest against his own. "Goodnight…" I mumbled, my chest full of foreign warmth as I closed my eyes and drifted off to sweet unconsciousness.

* * *

"I don't want to go!" he cried, trying to pull his hand out of mine. I grabbed him tighter, not wanting to lose him between the hundreds of children running around us, heading towards the school.

"Samuel! Stop yelling and talk to me." I all but begged him, bending down for my eyes to be at the same level as his own. "What's wrong?"

"I don't want to!" He shouted, tears beginning to run down his cheeks. "Please, don't make me!"

"It's your mother, honey. She must be worried sick."

"Please." He cried, his voice breaking. "Please!"

"Hey, hey, calm down and talk to me." I wiped away his tears, pulling him to the side near some bushes. I lowered my body again and took his hands in mine, rubbing them with my thumbs to soothe him. "Are they being bad to you?" I asked him, looking deep into his eyes. "Is that why you don't want to go back to them? Are they… are they hurting you?"

He shook his head furiously. "No, no! They're good! They love me."

I examined his face carefully. "Are you sure?"

"Yes." He said with certainty and I couldn't help but believe him.

"Then why don't you want to go?" I asked, unable to understand.

He groaned in frustration, more tears dripping from his eyes. "Did you not hear a word I said? They don't remember me!" he sniffed and hiccupped at the same time. "Don't you know what it's like to not be remembered? I hate it! I don't want to go!"

I sighed, the pieces finally fitting together. "Samuel, I'm sure they remember you just fine. They are your parents. They can't just forget they had a kid."

I felt a sharp pang at my own words. _My_ parents apparently could.

"It's the curse!" He cried desperately, throwing his hands in the air. "The curse is real! How many times do I have to tell you?"

"Fine!" I yelled. "You know what? You stay right here. I'm going to go talk to your mom myself. And then you'll see she remembers you just fine. Which one is she?"

He sniffed and pointed towards the entrance of the school. Sure enough there was a young redhead standing next to the door with a kind smile on her face as she waved and welcomed the running children. She certainly looked incredibly familiar to the woman in that drawing, which momentarily shocked me. Had they written and printed the book themselves?

I turned to give Samuel a last glance. "You stay right here, you understand me? Don't move a muscle until I return."

He nodded, sniffing again.

I sighed and slightly patted his back. "I'll be right back." I assured him, and headed towards the school.

I walked with a quick pace and I reached her in no time. I didn't really know how to call her, so I awkwardly walked up to her with my hands behind my back.

"Uh excuse me? Miss?" I called, and she turned to look at me.

And then the second our eyes met, my breath hitched in my throat.

Those were my eyes! My eyes, exactly the same in shape and size and color… It was as if somebody had make two identical copies and glued them to our faces… And those eyebrows! They were the same as mine, in red instead.

"Oh, hi!" she chirped happily, smiling heartedly at me. "Can I help you?"

I blinked rapidly at her, unable to believe what I was seeing. "Uh… Yeah, I-uh…" I gulped. I gave her my hand. "I'm Harriet."

She took it, shaking it fondly. "I'm April, April Kepner. I'm a teacher here. Are you a student's mother?"

I froze. "I'm sorry, did you say _Kepner_?"

She nodded, a bit confused. "What, you've heard of me?" she asked in disbelief, as if that was impossible.

I was dreaming, right? I had to be dreaming. There was no way, no way in hell that this warm and loving woman was my… my birth mother. The same woman that abandoned me.

I shook my head to clear my thoughts. No, it couldn't be. Besides, she seemed to be barely a bit more than ten years older than me. The time period simply didn't match.

I cleared my throat. "Uh, no. It just sounded familiar, I suppose. So, I got a late night visit last night from a little adventurer, Samuel, who travelled all the way to Bozeman to find me." I chuckled. "I brought him back safe, don't worry, he's right there at those bushes. I'm sure you must have been very worried."

She seemed confused for a second. "Samuel? Little Samuel Williams?" Her eyes widened. "Oh my God, did you inform his parents? How did this happen?"

"Wait, wait, no." I huffed. " _Your_ Samuel. Your _son_ Samuel, he's the one that came to find me." I clarified.

She stared at me blankly. "I don't… I don't have a son." She said, slightly snorting. "I think there's been some kind of mistake."

It took me a moment to realize I had heard her correctly. "Samuel. Your son." I turned to point at him. He was standing right in front of a big bush about forty feet away, the only kid that wasn't running toward us. "That's him, right there."

She looked towards where I was pointing, her eyes narrowing. "They're all running, I don't…"

"That one!" I shouted, my mask of composure finally breaking. "The one that's standing there! _Samuel._ "

She shook her head, seeming confused as ever. Right then, the school bell rang, and she immediately took a step towards the entrance. "I'm sorry, I have to go..."

"No, wait, I-"

"I really hope you find his parents. Honestly! But I have to go now." She said, her tone sincere, and she turned around to head inside with rushed steps.

I stood there, staring at where she had just been, unable to believe what was happening. Did she really just not remember him? How was that even possible?

I turned around to look at Samuel, who was staring back at me with a knowing look. Fresh tears were streaming down his cheeks, and he was desperately trying to wipe them away with the inner side of his sleeve.

Confused as ever, I run right back to him.

"Do you see what I meant?" He shouted, his little voice breaking with sobs.

"Oh, Sammy…" I leaned down to take his face into my hands. "Are you… are you sure that was your mom?"

Through his tears he managed to give me a glare. " _Yes_ , I'm sure Harriet! Who doesn't know who their mom is?"

I bit my lip. Was it possible that it was an illness that had caused this? An amnesia of some short, perhaps? "Maybe if you went there and talked to her then…"

"I can't!" he snapped, pulling away.

"Hey, I know this is hard, okay? But it might help. We have to try it."

"It's not that simple!" he cried. "It's the curse! You have to break the curse!"

"Oh, enough with that nonsense, Samuel!" I shouted, so loudly he took a quick step back, startled. "There is no curse! Those things don't exist! If you would just talk to her then-"

"I can't!" he shouted back now, his face twisting to a grimace of pain. "I can't okay? I can't talk to her!"

"Why?"

"Because she can't hear me!" he yelled, his voice breaking.

My face twisted into a frown of confusion. "What? What do you mean she can't hear you?"

He didn't answer. Instead, with a determined look he curled his hands into tiny fists and took a step back. And another one. And another one.

"Samuel, what are you…" I began saying, but he just kept walking backwards, about to jump in the way of a stream of wildly running kids. I jumped up at once to stop him. "Hey, watch out!" I yelled, but it was too late.

He took a final step out the open, and all sorts of children run right up to him all at once. I let out a cry of panic, expecting him to get run over. But he didn't.

Instead, he stood straight before me as a bunch of kids run _through_ him. Samuel didn't move an inch while more and more children passed from inside his body like he was made of thin air. Like he didn't _exist_.

Pure horror shipped right into my core, my insides turning to ice. I took a step back, only to trip and land to the ground.

"Do you believe me now?" He yelled over the crowd, his blue teary eyes burning with agony as they bore into mine.

* * *

"I don't understand." I admitted, running my fingers through my hair. "You say you died as a newborn, right?"

He nodded, pointing at the baby in the same drawing he had shown me on our flight here. "Yes, right after that, in chapter eleven. I squeezed mom's finger and then I went away." He sighed. "I really didn't want to, but I had ostrogensi Imprefeta."

"You had _what_?" I bit back a smile.

He frowned. "It's a hard word, okay? Give me a break."

"But if you died as a baby… then why are you six years old now?" I asked, moving on.

"I am twenty-five and a half, Harriet."

"Hold up, hold up. You mean to tell me you are _older_ than me?" I asked incredulously.

He grinned proudly. "I am six and a half years older than you. And when time stopped, I stopped growing too. And guess what! The prophecy says that if I get you back on your nineteenth birthday and you break the curse I will come back to live with you guys again, as a real person!" He cheered, clapping.

His mental growth was apparently still attached to his physical one.

"Okay, so tell me something. Supposing this… _curse_ … was real." I said, wincing at the word.

"Which it is." He interrupted.

"Which it might be, but we are talking hypothetically here."

"Okay." He agreed, crossing his arms against his chest in a businessman gesture.

I stared at him for a moment. God, I couldn't believe I was actually considering this. "How… would it _hypothetically_ be broken?"

"Hytopethically?"

I blinked. "Um. Yes."

"Well, the same way all curses are broken, of course."

It took me a second to catch up. Then I chuckled. "What, like, with the _true love's kiss_?"

He grinned.

My laughter turned into coughs. "You are kidding me, right?"

He shook his head.

I stared at him in disbelief. "What, I have to kiss someone?"

He shrugged. "You, anyone, it doesn't matter. It just has to be true love. And everyone here was ripped from theirs because of the curse, so what you have to do is bring them back together and make them kiss." He smiled. "It's easy."

"It's insane is what it is." I corrected him. "How do you even know this stuff?"

He pointed at the book.

I rolled my eyes. "Right. That old thing. Where did you find it?"

He shrugged. "It just… appeared."

Of course it did. I shook my head. "It doesn't really matter anyway. It's pointless. Even if we did try, it would be impossible to break the _curse_. I mean, who even finds true love these days?"

He gaped at me like I was missing something brighter than the sun.

"You're talking about your parents, right?"

"Yep."

I sighed. "Look, Samuel, I get that there's something very odd going on here. Okay? I do. And you are a freaking ghost, that opens a whole new world of possibilities and supernatural stuff to consider. But still, isn't a curse a bit stretched out? These things just don't happen!"

"They so do!" He stubbornly argued. "It's all in the book. Mom and dad were living happily ever after, and then _she_ appeared. _Maggie Pierce_." His look darkened, his voice dropping to a whisper as he spat out the name with hatred. "She fell in love with dad and wanted to be with him, but of course he loved mom. And so she thought that if she couldn't have him nobody could, and she casted the curse to keep them apart. But what she didn't know, of course, was that mom was pregnant with you. You were born a day before it all took place."

And there that goes again. "Samuel… I really don't think your parents are my parents. My parents weren't good people. The abandoned me. They left me on the side of the road."

He groaned, throwing his hands in the air in frustration. "And you still don't see it! They didn't abandon you, Hattie." He told me in all seriousness. "They were cursed. They didn't have a choice."

I swallowed, my chest heavy. "Samuel…"

"No, look." he said and opened his book, turning it to a page near the end. "Here, in chapter twelve. Look at the picture."

And I did. I looked at the drawing in the page he was showing me, this one full of all sorts of colors. It was them again, the same couple, again embracing each other. In the woman's –April's – arms was another baby, and the man was leaning down to kiss the infant's little head. The looks of adoration were back on their faces, but not a trace of anything but joy in their eyes this time. They were just happy. So incredibly happy, as if the baby in their arms was suddenly their entire world. The baby which was covered in a pink little blanket. My pink little blanket.

I grabbed the book from Samuel, putting the page in front of my eyes. "It can't be…" I muttered in shock, but it truly was it. You could even distinguish the knitted letters on it.

 _Harriet Kepner-Avery_.

I gaped at it open-mouthed, at a loss for words.

"Do you see it now?" he asked, putting his little hand on my knee. "The curse separated you from them, like it separated them from each other. But you are the product of true love." He smiled. "So am I, but I died. But you are alive. You can bring them back together. You can break the curse. You _are_ the savior, Harriet, you're the only one who can. You just have to believe it too." He said, his eyes narrowing as he squeezed my knee.

I let out a shaky breath. My parents. Could it be? Was it even possible that everything I had taken for granted my entire life was wrong? Was it possible that… that they had never left me? That they actually _loved_ me?

Well, there was only one way to find out, I guessed.

"Okay." I said determined. "So, what now?"

He squealed, literally _squealed_ , and jumped on his feet. "Oh, I knew it! I knew you'd believe me!"

I rolled my eyes. "Will you tell me what to do, or should I catch the next flight to Montana?"

He giggled. "As if you'd ever leave me alone now. You love me! And I don't blame you, I'm adorable." He stated matter-of-factly. I rolled my eyes again. "Anyway, now we have to go to the hospital to see dad. Follow me, little sister." He ordered and begun walking, grabbing my hand with his tiny fingers to pull me with him.

I huffed in disbelief. Then I grinned. "I'm coming… _big_ brother."

* * *

I tried my best to not let out an embarrassingly loud cry of despair in the middle of the hospital hall. I miserably failed.

"When you said dad was at the hospital," I hissed at him, trying not to draw attention, "I thought you meant he was a doctor here, not a freaking vegetable!"

He put his hands behind his back awkwardly. "Hehe… oops?"

I shook my head in dismay and crossed the hallway in front of me to enter the single room at its end. It was just an ordinary hospital room, with white walls and blue sheets, an old TV and two windows. One of them was next to the door, facing the hallway inside. The other was facing outside, endless droplets of rain hitting the glass with might –so fitting to the state of Washington. And there, on the only bed in the room, with a dozen monitors and machines attached to his body, laid unconscious the man from the drawings. My… possible father.

Hesitantly, I closed the door behind me and made my way to the bed to examine his face closely. His eyes were closed, obviously, but apart from that his face looked really familiar. He looked much like Samuel, I realized. But his nose… I had his nose. Or, well, a slightly thinner version of it. I grimaced, finding it unbelievable that I could find my own characteristics in other people's faces.

"Jackson, right?" I asked, and Samuel nodded. "Jackson Avery…" I trailed off, slightly smiling. I reached to brush the outer side of my fingers against his cheek, caressing it softly. "What's wrong with him?" I asked after a moment.

Sammy shrugged. "I don't know! Nobody will say and I can't really ask them."

I sighed. "How on earth are we going to make them kiss if he's unconscious? It's not like I can hang a mistletoe over his head and it will just magically happen." I turned to give him a strange look. "Right?"

He shook his head.

"Okay. Just had to make sure."

"You know, mom comes to the hospital twice a week as a volunteer." He informed me. "She will come again tonight to put new flowers and stuff in a few patients' rooms."

I grinned. "Sweet. That's actually brilliant. So we just have to wake him up before that." I concluded, trying to come up with a plan. "But how?" I wondered out loud, rubbing my chin.

"Well, I might know someone who can help with that…" he trailed off. I raised my eyebrows.

Five minutes later, I was staring at the back of the man in question, panic rising inside my chest. "Remind me why this is a good idea?" I hissed at Samuel, not wanting people to give me strange looks when they came to the conclusion I was talking to thin air. It was hard enough on me when I realized those strange looks everyone had given me at the airport when I bought two tickets weren't because I looked 'too young to be a mom' as I had originally thought.

Samuel patted me on the back. More like the hip. "It'll be fine. I've been following him around for years, he is a sweetheart. And he is basically the closest dad had to a father before the curse. Just say what I told you."

I sighed. "Alright. Fine. I'm going."

I walked up to the man, standing right beside him. After a few moments of him not noticing me, I cleared my throat. "Uh, hi. Are you Mark Sloan?"

The man turned to look at me, a smirk at his lips. "I see my reputation precedes me." He said with a flirty tone. He offered me his hand. "Dr. Mark Sloan. And you are?"

I cleared my throat. "Harriet. Pleasure to meet you."

"The pleasure is _all_ mine." He winked at me.

I raised one finger. "Save it. You have a daughter, right?" I asked him, moving along with the plan.

That seemed to shake his flirtatious mood a bit. "Yes…" he trailed off.

"And you are married to her mother. You have everything you ever wanted. Almost. But there's this thing missing that you can't quite name, this empty hole inside you that you can never fill no matter how much you try, and no amount of sex can make you feel content. Am I right?"

He seemed honestly shocked for a second. "Pretty-face, you're scaring me." He said, his eyes slightly narrowed.

"But I can help." I mumbled, looking into his eyes intensely.

He smirked, leaning closer. "Yes, I bet you can…"

 _Oh, for the love of…_ "I'm serious here."

"So am I." he said, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively.

I heard Samuel's childish giggle from behind me, and I turned to give him a deadly glare. He quickly covered his eyes with his hands, still grinning widely. If he was aware of what Sloan was talking about, I didn't want to know it.

I turned back to Mark, narrowing my eyes at him as I grabbed him by the collar of his coat. "Listen to me, mister. I haven't eaten in twenty hours, I spent the night of my birthday on the most uncomfortable flight from Montana to here to find out that my entire life is turned upside down, still here I stand in front of you, offering you the happiness nobody else can offer with the exchange of a tiny little favor, which you can do with your eyes closed. Now will you take the gutter out of your mind for one damn second and hear me out, or do I have to force it out myself?"

He raised an eyebrow, his eyes smirking.

"Don't tell me you like them aggressive."

He grinned. "I do."

I groaned, letting go of him. "This is not happening…"

"But I am all ears." He added.

I was the one to smirk this time.

* * *

"Avery?" Mark snorted, walking up to Jackson's bed. "Yeah, I know Avery! He's my boy. My better half. Always hears me when I talk without interrupting, never missed a birthday..." he winked at me, and whispered. "I spend them all here. Isn't that right, Avery?" He asked the unconscious man, slightly slapping his cheek. "Attaboy."

"Can you wake him up?" I asked, losing my patience.

He huffed. "Wake him up? Who am I, God?" he then laughed to himself. "Only in bed, sugar."

I turned to Samuel. "How was _he_ supposed to help?"

He giggled. "I don't know. He talks funny!"

"Who are you talking to?" Sloan asked me, his eyebrows knitted together.

I closed my eyes, letting out a long, unstable breath. "No one, just… do you even know what's wrong with him?"

"Isn't it written in his chart?"

"How on earth should I know? I'm not the fucking doctor here!" I snapped.

I felt something tug my sleeve. I looked down to see Samuel frowning at me. "That's a bad word."

Could somebody please just bring me a balcony to jump off of already?

"There's no chart." Mark exclaimed, bringing me back to my senses.

"What?"

"There's no chart. There's always a chart in every patient's room. This is odd."

"Huh…" I frowned. "How do we find out what's wrong with him now?"

"I don't know. We don't have an electronic tracking system, so the chart is all there is. I suppose we could schedule an MRI, but I need to call Neuro for a consult first and that could take a while."

Damn it. "Can't we just take him to the machine and take one?" I asked Mark.

"That's not how it goes."

"I didn't ask you how it goes. I asked if we can do it."

He gaped at me. "Are you insane, kid? Do you want me to lose my job?"

"What's a job compared to your happiness?" I shot back.

He seemed to think about it for a second. Then he frowned. "You are so buying me drinks afterwards."

I huffed. "I'm not sleeping with you. You're old enough to be my father." Plus a 'grand', I guessed.

"I wouldn't sleep with you if you begged me, you are way too annoying. I just need some alcohol in my system."

"Fine, whatever." I agreed, throwing my hands in the air in frustration.

"Good. Here, take this." Mark said and threw me a plastic bag. When I examined it closely, I realized it contained a pair of navy blue scrubs. I raised my eyebrows at him. "So we won't get caught." He explained. "Now go change and come help me move him."

I run to the bathroom to change into the scrubs. It was funny that when I looked into the mirror, I actually liked what I was seeing. With a grin on my lips, I run back outside to notice Mark had removed all the machines from Jackson but his incubator.

"This is _so fun!_ " Samuel screamed, as he was using one free spot on the bed as a trampoline.

"Hey!" I yelled at him. "Stop it. You'll fall down and hurt yourself."

"I'm already dead!" he yelled back, sticking his tongue out at me.

"I don't know who's more insane, you or me for agreeing to this." Mark exclaimed, looking at me like I had lost my mind. Well, I probably had.

We moved him across the halls, doing our best not to draw attention. We had to stop and hide into a few supply closets along the way, but we eventually made it to the MRI machine. When the last doctors occupying it were done, we rushed the gurney in as quickly as we could.

We lifted Jackson up to put him on the machine. We then run up to the gallery and turned it on, waiting for the scans to show on the screen.

As we were waiting there, I couldn't help but think of what would happen if we did wake him up. How were we supposed to make two strangers kiss out of the sudden? Cause if Samuel's sayings were true, then they would have no idea who each other was. I blew out some air in frustration.

Mark noticed. "What?"

Hm. Well, there was no shame in asking. "Let me ask you a question. If you wanted to, say, make two people hook up, what would you do? Say they were strangers."

He raised an eyebrow. "What on earth are you up to, pretty-face?"

"I need a girl to kiss Jackson." God, I sounded like that crab from the little mermaid.

He glanced towards the unconscious man. Then back at me. "I think that's called necrophilia."

"If and when he wakes up." I clarified. _Jeez._

"Why?"

"Because they're meant to be."

"Good enough." He pursed his lips. "Is she at least pretty? My boy deserves the best."

I was pretty damn sure at this point that he didn't even remember knowing 'his boy', but I kept my mouth shut. "She's beautiful." I replied.

"Alright then. What I would do is give her a pep talk." He cleared his throat and his voice deepened noticeably. " _'You are an attractive woman. He is an attractive man. Take one for the team'_."

I could actually picture him say that, and I couldn't help but wince at the thought of April's reaction. "Isn't that sexual harassment?"

"I like to think of it as sexual encouragement."

I rolled my eyes.

And then, finally, the results appeared, revealing plenty of different perspectives of Jackson's brain. I glanced at Mark in alarm, waiting for him to process what he was seeing in agony.

"He's not gonna die, is he?" I couldn't help but mutter after a few endless moments of silence.

"What? No, he's fine, but just-"

"I'm sorry." I shook my head. "I'm shutting up, you do your thing."

"No really." Mark insisted. "He's fine."

I frowned. "What?"

"There's nothing wrong with him." Mark stated in surprise. "His brain is perfect."

I stared at Jackson's unconscious body in confusion. "Then why isn't he awake?"

"I don't know." Mark answered, and for the first time since I met him there wasn't a glimpse of amusement in his tone.

* * *

A hand slammed something on the little table next to Jackson's bed and I jumped up, startled. "Mark! What the hell?"

"I found it." He announced proudly. "I am officially a God outside the bedroom too."

"What?" I asked, bewildered. I took hold of the object on the table and examined it closely. It was a tiny bottle. A bottle of… "Anesthetic?" I asked in disbelief, my eyes narrowing.

He nodded. "I run a blood test and found it in his blood. Someone has been drugging him."

"Dad is on drugs?!" Samuel asked, horrified.

"Nobody's on drugs, buddy, don't worry." I assured him, patting his back. "So what now?" I asked Mark.

He was giving me a strange look. "Uh… yeah, so I took care of it. He should be awake within an hour."

Samuel gasped. "That's just in time for mom to find him awake!"

"I know!" I agreed excitedly. The timing couldn't be more perfect.

"Can you please explain to me who you are talking to?" Mark cut in.

I grinned. "I think I'll let you wonder. Okay, thanks Mark!" I took his hand, shaking it firmly. "Thank you for everything. You are free to go now." I gestured Sammy to follow me as I walked out the door.

"Wait what?" Mark asked, frowning. "Hey! Where are you going? What about me? I woke him up, like God! I deserve to know what is happening!"

Samuel giggled, running after me.

"I am not happy, pretty-face!"

"If we succeed…" I yelled behind my shoulder as I run, "…it will happen! Just wait!"

We raced down the halls, heading towards the lobby. "Where are we going, really?" Samuel asked.

"We have to make sure they actually meet, right?" I asked him, panting, as we reached the reception.

"Yes…" He agreed, raising one eyebrow. "What are you doing?"

"I'm making sure." I replied, checking if anyone was looking before I opened the drawers, looking for the volunteers' records. When I finally found it, I looked through the pages to find the one writing which patient rooms were assigned to which volunteers for today. I quickly glanced through the names, easily spotting _April Kepner_. Thankfully, the numbers of the rooms were handwritten, so I could easily add Jackson's room to them.

Fast as I could, I put the files back in the folder and that in the drawer, and made my way out of the lobby before anyone realized what I was doing.

"You are so smart!" Samuel exclaimed, grinning widely.

"Yeah, that's usually the case with the younger siblings."

"Hey!"

I chuckled and ruffled his hair playfully. "I'm messing with you. You're smarter than me. Besides, without you I'd still be drowning in misery in that empty apartment."

"Damn right you would." He agreed, proud of himself.

* * *

When we made our way back to Jackson's room, Mark was nowhere to be found. We both sat at each one of Jackson's sides, waiting expectedly for him to wake up.

I didn't realize when it had happened, but somewhere along the way I had grown to think of these strangers as something more than just strangers. Sitting here now felt like I was waiting on the bedside of a loved one.

And so when his eyes flattered open, I didn't think of it twice before I took hold of his hand, squeezing it slightly.

"Jackson?" I asked. "Jackson, can you hear me?"

He blinked rapidly, his expression confused. When his eyes finally focused on my face, I smiled at him warmly.

"Hi." I said, squeezing his hand again.

Samuel jumped up the bed, climbing on Jackson's chest. "Daddy's awake! Daddy's awake!" he cheered, jumping up and down. I tried not to giggle.

The man examined my face carefully. "Wh-where am I?" he stammered, his voice rough.

"You're at the hospital." I informed him. "You were in a coma."

"A coma?"

"You don't remember anything, do you? You, uh… you were in an accident." I improvised. "You lost your memory, but it's only temporary. It will all come back to you later, don't worry." I reassured him, deeply wishing I wasn't lying.

He looked at me again. "Who are you?"

"Me? Oh, I… I'm a nurse. I'm just a nurse here." I winced immediately after I said the words, since it was the surgeons that wore the navy scrubs instead. I hoped he wouldn't notice.

"Oh." He exclaimed. He then nodded. "Okay. Do I… do I have any family here?"

I gulped. "I'm afraid I am not aware. But for now, if you need anything –and I mean _anything_ at all- you let me know, okay? I'm your… assigned, personal nurse."

He frowned. "Those exist?"

"Sure!" I chirped, grinning widely.

"Oh. Well, thank you. Nurse…?"

Oh. Crap. "Uh, just call me Harriet." I offered.

He raised one eyebrow. "From Tubman?"

 _How the Hell should I know, dude? You named me!_ "Uh, also 'The Spy'. It's a really good book."

"Huh. Never heard of it."

Tubman it is, then.

"Mom is in the building! I repeat, mom is in the building!" Samuel shrieked from his spot at the window facing the hall. My chest clenched in excitement.

Sammy turned to me, eyes wide. "Set the atmosphere, woman!"

' _What?_ ' I mouthed at him in alarm. I knew nothing of romance!

"Just do something! Slow music, low lights, I don't know. Anything!"

In panic, I run to the closest switch and turned off the lights.

He slammed his forehead. "You are a disaster."

"Oops! My bad, sorry!" I mumbled at Jackson in embarrassment and turned them back on. Then I cleared my throat, glancing towards the exit nervously. I guessed the best atmosphere I could set up for them was with my absence.

"Uh, I actually have a few errands to run. I'll be right back though, okay?" I quickly said, and flew the room without waiting for an answer.

Only seconds later I was at a safe distance, and I spotted April nearing the room. She crossed the hallway, her hands full of folded towels and bouquets, her gaze set to the ground. With my heart in my throat -or was it _guts_?- I watched her pace slow down as she finally walked through the door.

A loud squeal came from behind my back, and I jumped up the air startled.

"Sorry", mumbled Samuel who had managed to slide behind me, but he didn't sound remorseful at all. With unrestrained enthusiasm written all over his face, he began marching proudly towards the room. As soon as he took one step, I grabbed him by the arm and pulled him aside.

"Hey, what are you doing?" He complained. "We have to watch!"

"We will." I whispered. "But they can't see us."

"They can't see me anyway." He whined, but still followed me as I all but crawled down the hallway until I reached the window looking at Jackson's room. I stood up to my knees and Samuel at the tip of his toes, but both of our heads just barely popped up the window, just enough for us to peek inside. Thankfully, the door was left open, so we could hear them too.

* * *

April made her way to the bedside table, casually placing a white rose at the vase set there.

"Hello."

She clearly wasn't paying much attention to her surroundings, which is why when Jackson spoke, she let out a little shriek of surprise.

He chuckled. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to frighten you."

"Oh no, it's totally fine. I was just…" she began saying, but then she looked at him and a glimpse of recognition shined in her eyes. "Oh, dear God. You're awake!" she exclaimed surprised.

He frowned. "You know me?"

"No, no…" She flushed. "I'm a volunteer here. I've been bringing you flowers for a long while… I'm just really surprised to see you awake."

"Oh." He gave her a grateful smile. "That's so kind of you."

Her blush got deeper. "It's nothing." She shrugged it off. "I wish I could have done more. But weren't you in a coma?" she asked, curiously. "What happened?"

"I don't really know myself." He answered honestly. "I just barely woke up."

Her eyes widened. "Really?"

"Really."

"Where is your family, then?" she asked, looking around the room.

"I'm… not quite sure I have any." He replied, sadness burning in his tone.

She hesitated for a brief second, unsure of what to do. Then she sighed, smiling at him sadly. "You're not the only one." She softly mumbled, their eyes meeting for a long moment to share a meaningful glace.

And for a while, it seemed like neither of them could look away. The atmosphere in the room shifted, a vivid tension building in the air.

And then, quickly, April pulled her eyes of him, looking at the ground with her cheeks filling with color.

"What?" Jackson asked, looking at her curiously, still a bit dazzled but the intensity her gaze had held.

She avoided his eyes, biting her lips.

"What is it?" He asked again, sitting straighter up the bed.

"It's nothing. It's stupid." She huffed, embarrassed. "Forget it."

"No, tell me." He insisted, an encouraging smile on his lips. "Please. I haven't talked to a single person in hell knows how long, whatever it is you're thinking of I would love to hear it."

It took her a long second but eventually she hesitantly looked up. "Your eyes are mesmerizing." She told him and her gaze dropped again, her cheeks turning impossibly redder.

"Oh." He simply said. Then he smiled.

"I'm sorry! I told you, it's stupid."

"It's not." He assured her, slightly bashful himself. "And thank you."

She awkwardly rubbed the back of her neck, looking down. "Uh… okay, so… I brought you some new towels. Although I suppose it's for nothing since nobody every uses them in your room and the previous ones are perfectly clean too. I don't even know why I brought them, honestly, I didn't even know you had woken up."

He smiled at her rambling, thinking it was cute. "Well, thank you for them anyway. So what do you do?" he changed the subject, suddenly curious.

"Me? Oh, I'm just a teacher. Elementary school." She brushed it off.

"Wow. You must have a lot of patience."

"They're good kids." She said instead, slightly defensively.

His smile got wider. "You sound like you love them."

"You picked that up from a single sentence?"

"Not really. It was your eyes that gave you away."

"What about my eyes?" She asked playfully. She hadn't realized it but she had moved significantly closer to him, and he was leaning towards her. Her face was merely a foot away from his, providing him a full view of the honey depths of the eyes in question.

And instantly, he felt himself falter. To say they seemed familiar would be an understatement. He felt like he had spent a century looking at those hazel eyes. Yet this girl, this _April_ … the name didn't ring a bell. He'd blame his temporary amnesia, but obviously she didn't know him either.

"I mean, you really _did_ just sound like a mama-bear protecting its cubs." He replied instead, shoving the eerie thoughts away.

She laughed, and the sound caught his attention. It was quite unique, how the laughter seemed to surprise her herself. Like she was surprised she could laugh that freely. It was a beautiful sight.

He huffed, and that irritated the existing lump in his throat – soon he was coughing. As of instinct, she jumped closer, her hand shooting to his back, patting it tenderly.

"Can you… water?" he managed to choke out between coughs.

Instantly she reached for the glass on the counter, purred some water in it and handed it to him. She watched as he hungrily gulped it down, suddenly realizing how thirsty he truly was.

"Wow. You really _did_ just wake up, didn't you? And here I am, taking about my job." She felt a sting of guilt.

"I asked you, remember?"

"Yeah, but then I replied back…"

He suddenly felt an unexplainable urge to keep this blaming game going, and the strength of it had him balking once again. What was this odd feeling of déjà vu washing over him?

She licked her dry lips. "What did the doctors say? How are you?"

He handed the glass back to her and shrugged. "There was only a nurse here. She didn't really explain much."

She frowned. "What poor excuse of a hospital is this? You just woke up from a coma and they just leave you here all alone without even bothering to explain what- you know what? This is not okay. I'm gonna go talk to the chief right now. Stay here." She ordered him angrily, as if he could possibly move from his bed anyway.

He tried to hold back a laugh. Her anger was like that of a kitten, and he adored how she felt the need to stand up for him, even though she had just met him. She was kind, he realized. And then he smiled at her.

"Thank you." His sincerely was obvious in his tone. "But please don't go. I haven't talked to another person in so long, and to you I would love to keep talking. I mean, if you don't have anything else to do… I don't want to be a burden."

"You're no burden." She mumbled, slightly stunned by the fact that he seemed to truly mean what he had just said. She sat at the edge of his bed, her heart humming for a reason she couldn't quite understand.

It was the only time half the patient's rooms were left with no flowers.

* * *

Twelve minutes. For twelve entire minutes we stood there waiting, watching them interact, and the feeling of initial anticipation had flown like the time. I sighed for what seemed like the millionth time today, boredom taking over me.

"Why aren't they kissing?!" Samuel cried in despair. Contrary to my state of boredom, he seemed to be still very much on edge, bounding up and down on his little feet.

"They literally just met, Samuel. Give them some time."

He seemed to mumble something under his breath but I didn't catch it. "She's going to leave soon." He warned.

And to be fair he had a point. She was going to leave soon, and I had to come up with something. I wouldn't stay in this town forever. "Can we fake him coding? Make her perform CPR on him?" The kiss of life. It had to count for something, right? But he would still be breathing and talking, and I supposed convincing either of them that he needed CPR might be slightly hard.

Samuel groaned. "That won't even work, it has to be a real kiss. Come on, Harriet, hurry! We have to-" his sentence was cut mid-air as his eyes suddenly widened. "Oh my God." He gasped.

I followed his gaze to the new pair, and instantly I felt my heart skip a beat. April had just dropped a set of towels on the floor next to the bed and had bended down to get them. At the same time, Jackson had leaned closer himself, even though he couldn't really help her. Now that she was coming back up, the distance between them had disappeared, with their faces being only inches apart.

Instantly, April blushed and was about to pull away, when Jackson's hand came to cup her cheek, holding her in place. A heartbeat passed with them frozen, startled by the position they had suddenly fallen in.

I watched, breathless, as Jackson hesitantly moved even closer, unsure of whether he would be accepted or not. His worries weren't met, however. April let out a sigh which caressed his nearing face, and her eyelids flattered closed.

It was as if the scene in front of me was played in slow motion when he finally covered the distance between their mouths. His lips captured hers.

_Well, that didn't take them long._

"OH MY GOD! OH MY GOD, HARRIET, OH MY GOD! _OH MY GOD!_ " Samuel cried, his little voice rising with excitement, with happiness he couldn't possibly contain. He turned to me, eyes wide and mouth open.

I knew my expression mirrored his own. I could feel it, that emotion that bubbled inside my chest, spreading throughout my entire body, filling me with warmth. _Joy._ "Holy crap!" I shouted in exhilaration.

"We did it! WE BROKE THE CURSE!" he yelled, and jumped right into my waiting arms. "We did it! We did it!"

I span him around, as I let the feelings take over my body. Joy, excitement, happiness, I took it all in, savoring this incredible, impossible moment. I span him in my arms, and I laughed, I cheered, I shouted. He was giggling uncontrollably with that adorable, loud laughter of his, squeezing his arms around my neck, his legs flying in all directions.

"We did it!" I cried, unable to believe it. "We freaking did it, holy crap!"

I stopped twirling us for a moment to look at his face. His cheeks were reddened in excitement, his blue eyes shining. "I knew it. I knew you could do it! I knew it all along." He mused, grinning widely.

I shook my head. "No, it was you. You brought me here, you did everything. If it weren't for you, I would still be in Montana eating lonely cupcakes."

He smirked. "True. I take all credit."

I giggled. The sound surprised me. It came out so light, so carefree, without the slightest of effort. When my eyes met Samuel's again, it looked like he knew exactly what I was thinking. He reached to caress my face with his little fingers, his bright dimples appearing on his cheeks again as he smiled.

A clearing of a throat had my head turning towards an old lady passing through. She was staring at me with spite. "Could you talk to your imaginary friend a bit softer, young lady? You're making my hearing aids whistle."

Instantly I felt my face grow hot in embarrassment. I lowered my gaze. "I'm sorry, I was-" I began saying, but then I actually registered her words.

I looked up at her, suddenly frozen in place. "Did you say _imaginary_ friend?"

"Don't tell me you've just been talking to yourself all along, cause that would be a grand disappointment."

"You can't see me?" Samuel asked her with a worried tone. I let him slide to his feet, but he was grasping my forearm tightly. "Hey! Talk to me lady, can you still not see me?" he demanded.

The woman didn't answer. She didn't even acknowledge she had been talked to.

"Um, Excuse me, but… Can you not see him?" I asked again and pulled Samuel in front of me.

"See who?"

_Crap._

I pulled my eyes off of the old lady and turned towards the window to look at the couple in the room. April had quickly pulled away from the kiss, blushing furiously in embarrassment. Jackson was rubbing the back of his head awkwardly, muttering an apology.

_Crap, crap, crap…_

Samuel walked gradually towards the window, placing his small palms against the cold glass. "It didn't work." He muttered, his tone indistinguishable.

And it truly hadn't. The curse didn't break like we thought. We failed.

"Damn it!" I hissed. What did we miss?

"Why didn't it work?" He voiced my own question, turning to look at me. I watched him as he processed what was happening, read all of the emotions on his transparent face. Confusion, disappointment, hurt, worry, fear, urgency. "It was supposed to work!" He snapped. "The book said that it would, an act of true love, it said! They're supposed to recognize each other. Why are they not remembering?"

"I don't know…" I mumbled. A flash of doubt began clouding my mind, but I shoved it away. I had seen more than enough by now to know the curse was real. "I don't understand. If an act of true love is supposed to break the curse, then..."

Samuel glanced at the big clock on the wall and then let out a sound of despair. "Ugh, why didn't it work? What is happening?!"

The last word hovered in the air as an endless moment of silence began. The seconds ticked by, leaving both of us numb. And then, out of the sudden, I knew what had gone wrong.

I let out a groan. _Of course._ "It's not true love."

"What? Of course it is, Harriet, have you been paying no attention?" he shot back angrily.

"It's not true love," I explained, "because they don't remember. They are cursed, Samuel. They don't know each other, how can they love each other? This kiss didn't count, it wouldn't. We have been wrong all along."

I saw the realization in his eyes, watched as they widened substantially at first, before his expression broke. Panic took over his childlike features. "Oh, no… No, no, no, this… it can't-we can't have been wrong-we…"

I took a deep breath to clear my mind. Then I tried to give him a smile. "Hey, it's okay. Don't be upset. We'll figure it out, okay? We have all the time in the world to make this right. I'll stay here with you, for as long as it takes."

My own words had me faltering for a moment before I realized that I actually would. I _would_ stay. I didn't really have a choice anymore, this little boy that had so abruptly bumped into my life and changed it thoroughly in a single day had come to mean so much to me, more than anybody else ever had. And there was no way I was leaving him alone. Not now, not ever. I felt a protective instinct kick in when I was around him, one I didn't know I had in me. I wanted to seal him from the world, never let anything happen to him, just like an older sibling felt the need to protect the younger one. This way of thinking was so foreign to me it felt almost funny, yet I was shook by how accurate it was. I really _did_ see him as a little brother after all.

I smiled. _Did I say little?_

But the thing was, I wasn't going to stay with him just for his shake. I needed him too. I knew now that I couldn't spend a day without seeing those ocean eyes of his lighten up when he let out that bubbly laughter. Without seeing him knit his thick eyebrows as he concentrated –looking almost angry, something I found hilarious personally. I would miss his chubby cheeks, his mispronounced words, his unrestrained enthusiasm, the feeling of his little hands around my neck… I would miss him so terribly that I would be unable to think straight. How could someone so tiny have such a huge impact on me in such little time?

It was a done deal, then, I was going to stay in this odd town. At least, until the curse was broken. How I was going to break it, though, was a completely different matter. How _we_ were going to break it. But I figured we wouldn't have to look far. Sometimes the answer is right before our eyes, right? And this was one of those times.

We'd simply have to make Jackson and April fall in love again.

They already had once, so there was no doubt they would again, now that he was also awake. They had already made a _great_ start themselves. All we had to do was make it happen. Push them towards each other, create the ideal bonding conditions… We had this. We would have them falling for each other in no time.

I realized I was quite fond of this mission, honestly.

First thing I had to do, of course, was find us a motel. I had some savings on the side, they should be enough. The longer we stayed, of course, the harder it would be to manage it all, but I tried not to think about that. I wondered if I would have to get a single or double room. Samuel had slept on the plane on our way here so I knew he would probably need a bed, but then again I could just squeeze him next to me, tiny as he was, and save myself the embarrassment to ask for a double room when to the eyes of the receptionist I was clearly all alone.

I glanced towards the person in question thoughtfully, and only then did I realize that he was in a completely different page than I was. Samuel took a shaky breath, his eyes filled with unshed tears. The muscles of his little chin were trembling in the most heart-wrecking way.

"Whoa, hey! Sammy…" I murmured anxiously as I kneeled before him. "Hey, relax. It's going to be fine. We will figure this out, don't worry!"

My words did nothing to sooth him. The tears spilled down his face, forming two long streams down his chubby cheeks.

"Hey, buddy, don't cry." I pleaded, wiping them away. "Don't worry. It's going to be okay. It's just going to take a little bit longer, but we have all the time in the world. We'll just have to make them fall in love all over again, no biggie, right? We _will_ break the curse, I promise you. You and me." I cupped his cheek.

He smiled sadly and took another glance at the clock. "Not you and me." He muttered. "Just you."

"You don't want to help me?" I asked in confusion.

"I do…" He said with a sigh. Then his expression changed. There was a strong sense of urgency when he spoke again. "Harriet, I need you to promise me something. Promise me that no matter what happens to me, you will break this curse. You won't give up."

I frowned. "What are you even talking about?"

"Just promise me."

"Samuel. This is ridiculous, nothing is going to happen to you. I'll make sure of it, alright? I got you."

He put his arms on my shoulders, a violent storm bringing the ocean in his eyes into life. "No, you have to promise. Promise me you will break this curse, no matter what."

His tone was starting to worry me. "I will, only if you promise to tell me what this is all about."

"Deal."

"Then okay." I spat out.

"You have to _mean it_."

"I promise." I vowed with a sigh. "I will do my very best to break this damn curse, no matter what."

He took a second. Then he nodded. "Okay. Okay, good. Alright…" he muttered to himself, closing his eyes in relief.

"What is it?" I murmured, a bad feeling settling uncomfortably in my chest

He gulped. He bit his lips. His gaze dropped to the ground. When his eyes met mine again, the storm inside them was over, the endless sea finally peaceful. _Too_ peaceful.

"I had a single day to help you break the curse and then I would come back to life and everyone would see me. If I failed I would disappear once and for all."

It took me a second to register his words. Register the meaning behind them. And when I did, I felt like the ground was pulled from my feet. "...What?" I managed to spit out, my voice coming out strange to my own ears. I sounded like I was choking. "I don't... what? What do you mean, that's not… that's not true."

He gulped again.

No. _No_. This was not happening. I refused to believe what he was saying. I shook my head furiously.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner." His little voice broke, and I could almost feel the weight lifting from his shoulder as he finally let the words out. "I didn't want to pressure you…"

"Pressure me?!" I snapped, pulling away and getting to my feet. I walked a few steps back, pressing my hands to my temples to calm my now raging breathing. I could feel my own body shake in dread.

He simply stood there, in the middle of the room, with his wet cheeks and red nose. So fragile. So small.

 _So_ _small_.

This should never happen. Nobody this small should have to deal with this. It wasn't fair.

Who could do this to a child? Who would take him away from his parents before he had even gotten the chance to live? Then offer him some hope he can fix it, only to take him away again? And who would take the only person I had ever loved from me? Bring me so close to real happiness I could taste it and then just grasp it away from my arms?

I felt like God was laughing at me.

"How much time do we have?" I heard my voice say. A weak, pleading whisper.

"Two minutes."

I couldn't bear to acknowledge it. My mind shut.

"I'm sorry." Samuel hiccupped, and the oceans spilled a little more.

And then it all came crushing down. I fell to my knees again, the weight of it all becoming unbearable. I heard them hit hard on the ground, but I didn't feel the pain. A violent sob wrenched my body. And then another one. And another one. The room began spinning around, the sounds and colors all turning into a wild blur, and I was too weak to do anything about it.

But there was something sticking up from the chaos. Something pulling me back.

Two little hands were wrapped around my neck. His touch so light, feathers and breeze. He buried his head in my shoulder, in my hair.

I felt powerless. Weakest than I had ever been. I could feel him fade away, and there was nothing I could do.

"I'm scared, Hattie."

The next sob went through us both.

Slowly, my arms rose. They wrapped around his body, sealing around him.

"It's okay, buddy. I got you."

He squeezed his arms around my neck. Without thinking about it, I placed a kiss on his cheek.

And the second I did, I felt everything change.

Bewildered by the bubbly, fizzy feeling that suddenly coursed through my body, I was still holding him when the room turned white.

* * *

Light. There was so much light, everywhere. Jackson blinked, yet he couldn't see a thing. But after a few seconds of confusion, gradually, the light faded away. It wasn't fully gone, however. The sun was shining outside, in contrast to the persistent rain that had been pouring all day.

The warm sunrays glided throw the window blinds into the white hospital room. They tenderly caressed the girl's cinnamon hair, painting them into shades of autumn. Her face was slightly turned towards it, her cheeks still warm after she had pulled away from his kiss -he hadn't yet figured out what had come over him, but he wished he could take it back. She hadn't spoken a word since.

Her position allowed the rays to reach her eyes as well, highlighting that smooth green on the edge, which contrasted so beautifully with the amber color in the middle. He found himself once again captivated by those warm and lively hazel eyes…

He blinked. April's eyes.

_April…_

All at once, everything came back to him. He didn't expect the string of memories to overflow his mind, and so when they did he let out a loud gasp.

" _Me and you"_

" _I have feelings. I have a lot of them."_

" _I want you."_

" _Even the things I don't like, I love."_

" _She's the one."_

" _Did I tell you that it's a boy?"_

" _He squeezed my finger and then he let go."_

" _We have to push, and we have to fight."_

" _She's a miracle."_

In a single second, April's entire life flashed before her eyes. She sucked in a sharp breath, as the very last memory replayed itself, so vivid she could almost hear the words.

" _She will find us." She vowed. "Just like you always say. If you love them and they love you-"_

_His lips cut her off, urgent. Demanding. He wasn't going to spend their last moment together recalling an old saying._

" _I love you." He whispered against her when they broke apart._

" _I love you too." She then smirked. "Even the things I don't like."_

He looked at her now, relief washing over him. A massive smile covered his entire face at the look of recognition in her widened eyes. Through all the feelings suddenly overcoming him, he managed to raise an eyebrow.

"Those where the last words you wanted me to hear? Really, April?"

Surprised laughter escaped her already open mouth before she threw herself in his arms. "Oh my God!" she cried. "I remember everything! Oh my God, oh God!"

Her scent of fall and apples flooded his mind, the need for her growing so intense he let out a groan. "Fuck, I missed you so much!" he reciprocated with passion. He kissed every part of her face he could reach, before his lips finally met hers almost violently. She held onto him for dear life, her nails digging at the back of his neck.

They were both panting when they broke apart for air. Yet she lost no time to speak.

"We're okay, we're both okay." She murmured against him, her voice burning with gratitude, relief, elation.

"She broke the curse." He breathlessly agreed in fascination.

And then they both suddenly straightened up, as a single name came to overshadow every other thought.

 _Harriet_.

Their heads turned towards the window facing the hallway, so quiet a minute ago, yet now jammed with life.

"Mark?!"

"Lexie!"

Jackson's eyes briefly shot towards the exchange in shock. Sloan… Lexie… they were alive? He looked around. Shepherd was there. So was Yang. People were running towards each other, hugging, smiling, laughing, reuniting with their loved ones. If he believed in a heaven, it would be this one.

And through the chaos of movement stood out a small piece of stillness. In the middle of the euphoric crowd kneeled a girl, a tiny little boy in her arms.

They both seemed sad to him at first as they held each other on the floor. Only a while later did he realize their tears were those of joy. With a swift move, the girl grabbed the boy and spun him around, placing dozens of small kisses on his cheek, his ear, his hair, everywhere she could reach. The moment seemed so happy he felt like he was invading their privacy.

And then, the girl let the boy slide to his feet, both their expressions now slightly anxious. As of cue, they both turned towards him and his wife. He met their intense gaze.

And then he suddenly knew who they were. He and April both did.

The girl seemed stunned, hesitation written in her wide, hazel eyes.

A brilliant smile formed on the boy's face.

_If you love them and they love you, they will always find you._

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you SO, SO MUCH for making it this far! It means the world to be able to share this with you all. If you would only leave a comment below, you'd make me the happiest person on earth! THANK YOU!


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